Post Hurrincane "Recovery" Advice

[BigWopHH]

Hello All,

So, I got hit by Hurricane Sandy this past week and lost power for 4 days. I had a battery-powered air-pump that I hooked up to my tank to keep the water moving a bit, but the temperature dropped to about 55-degrees at its lowest point today.

I have a variety of semi-aggressives in the tank (tiger barbs, a rainbow shark, red serape tetras, and clown loaches), and only had two barbs actually die in this ordeal, but I'm concerned about the rest and for my filters.

The tank is back up to temp now and I gave the survivors some food earlier, which they promptly devoured. But is there anything special I should be doing to help the bacteria in my filters (I have to canisters installed)? Should I just stay on top of the water parameters and expect a "mini-cycle"?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Lady Hobbs]

Could be it will be fine. Canister is sealed and all media was wet and in the dark. We really don't know how long bacteria survives. If you do have a problem, I think it will be a small one with perhaps just a bit of a mini-spike.

I bet they're happy to be warm again. You may have to watch them now for ick due to the stress of being cold.

[Plectoman]

I also lost power for 4 days due to the hurricane. thankfully i didn't lose any fish.. I am going through a mini spike..i have .25 ammonia and nitrite...right now I've just been doing water changes everyday to keep the levels down.i suggest you do the same if this happens to you